Commission on Undergraduate Education looks at majors

STANFORD -- The Commission on Undergraduate Education focused on the
strengths and weaknesses of undergraduate majors at its Friday, Nov. 12,
meeting, and decided that a subcommittee should be established to examine the
issue of majors in depth, said history Professor James Sheehan, commission
chair. Subcommittees will meet during winter quarter to look at a number of
specific topics. These committees will be made up of both commission members
and other faculty, students and staff. In preparation for the Nov. 12
meeting, commission members collected information on majors from different
departments and interdepartmental programs. It was clear, Sheehan said, that
the commission "could not set out to evaluate each individual major," but
rather should try to reach a general agreement on what a major should
involve. Commission members agreed, Sheehan said, that a strong major offers
a "core experience" - something required of all majors, such as a course or
set of courses. The commission also agreed, Sheehan said, that strong majors
are rigorous, with a clearly defined set of requirements, and that they offer
a "culminating experience," such as a required final seminar or paper. Weak
majors, Sheehan said, were seen as "those that didn't seem to have much
coherence or to demand much beyond a combination of courses." Commission
members thought that the subcommittee on majors should try to define the
number of units a major should require, Sheehan said. "That's a more
difficult issue than one might think," he said, since 3 or 4 units in one
major might require much more work than 3 or 4 units in another major. At its
next meeting, Sheehan said, the commission will look at advising, residential
education and the Center for Teaching and Learning. -mas-

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